The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fiorentino (Lat.: ''Florentinum''), named after its see (Castel) Fiorentino (di Puglia), was a medieval

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

bishopric (1059-1391). It was located about four miles southwest of the present 'commune' (municipality) of

Torremaggiore Torremaggiore is a town, '' comune'' (municipality) and former seat of a bishopric, in the province of Foggia in the Apulia (in Italian: ''Puglia''), region of southeast Italy. It lies on a hill, over the sea, and is famous for production of w ...

. The name has been restored as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

History

The fortress of Castel Fiorentino, like Troia, Montecorvino, Civitate, Lesina, and Draconara in the Capitanata area, was probably erected not long after his victory over the Apulians in 1018, by the Italian

catapan The ''katepánō'' ( el, κατεπάνω, lit. "he oneplaced at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the ...

(Byzantine governor) Basilio Boioannes, as a Byzantine ring opposing the expansionist Lombard duchy of Benevento. The diocese of Fiorentino started as a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

, using its Greek rite, until Rome's Latin rite was introduced by the conquering Normans mid eleventh century. On 12 July 1053,

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...

issued the bull "Cum Summae Apostolicae", in which he confirmed the privileges and possessions of the Church of Benevento for Archbishop Voldaricus. The list of properties did not include Fiorentino. On 22 January 1055,

Pope Victor II Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard of Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes w ...

transferred those dioceses of the ex-Byzantine capitanate to the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Benevento The Italian Catholic metropolitan Archdiocese of Benevento ( la, Archidioecesis Beneventana) has a long history; it now has five suffragan dioceses: the diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia, the diocese of Avellino, the diocese of Cerreto Sannita- ...

by papal bulla. In a bull, "Cum Summae Apostolicae", on 24 January 1058,

Pope Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX ( la, Stephanus, christened Frederick; c. 1020 – 29 March 1058) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 August 1057 to his death in 29 March 1058. He was a member of the Ardenne-Verdun family, ...

confirmed for Archbishop Vodalricus of Benevento the privileges and properties granted to the Church of Benevento by

. These included some which had not appeared in the bull of Leo IX, including Florentino. The bishop of Fiorentino, whose personal name is unmentioned, was present at the consecration of the church at Montecassino by

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

on 1 October 1171. On 13 December 1250, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II died at Fiorentino. In 1224, he had made Fiorentino a ''civitas'' of his demesne, and ordered the construction of a castle and a residence for the emperor. The "domus" of Fiorenza is listed in the "Statuum de reparatione castrorum" (c. 1241–1245). In the summer of 1255,

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death in 1261. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne (now in the Province of Rome), he ...

sent a papal army against the supporters of Frederick's son Manfred in Apulia and the Capitanata. Gathered at Canosa, they set off on 26 September, following the ''via di Capitinata'', and raviging along the way both Dragonara and Fiorentino, and killing every Saracen they met. The expedition climaxed with an assault on Nocera (Lucera). Its archeological site comprises a cathedral and one more of a dozen documented churches, including Santa Maria, San Cristoforo, San Giorgio and San Lorenzo, which had an archpriest; San Nicola, Santa Maria, San Donnino and Santissima Trinità, depending on the abbey of Torremaggiore; San Nicola and San Pietro; Santa Maria Coronata, which bishop Ramfredo conceded in 1205 to San Leonardo di Siponto; and San Leone, depending on the extramural monastery San Salvatore. From the 14th century, according to a 1313 Angevin chancellery document, the city was progressively abandoned, like other cities of the Capitanata, due to unhealthiness, tax burdens, and spoliation. The bishopric was suppressed after bishop Meglio's death in 1410. Its territory was merged into the

Diocese of Lucera In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Bishops

:... * Landolfo (attested 1061, 1062) * Robertus (I) (prima del 1071- dopo il 1087) :... * Robertus (II) (attested 1179 – ) * ?Robertus (III) (attested 1197) * Ramfredus (documentato dal 1205 – 1224) * nonymous(16 ottobre 1236 - ?) * Ruggero (I) (documentato nel 1238 – 1239) * Anonimo (attested 1252 – 1254) * Guglielmo (attested 1304) * Giacomo (1321 - ?) * Anonimo (attested 1331) * Ruggero II (? - circa 1344) * Matthaeus, O.S.B. (23 June 1344 - ?) * Simeone ( ? ) * Elias (4 dicembre 1374 - ?) * Giovanni (2 febbraio 1389 - ?) ''Avignon Obedience'' * Melius (22 June 1391 - death 1410) ''Roman Obedience''

Titular see

The title of Bishop of Fiorentino, though not the diocese itself, was restored in 1968, to be used as a

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

. It has had the following incumbents: * Luigi Barbarito (1969 – 2017) * Francisco Cota de Oliveira (2017 – 2020)Bishop Cota de Oliveira was Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Curitiba :''There is also a Diocese of Curitiba (and a Bishop of Curitiba) in the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.'' The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Curitiba ( la, Archidioecesis Curitibensis) is a Latin rite Metropolitan archdiocese in Paraná, s ...

(Brazil) (7 June 2017 – 10 June 2020). On 10 June 2020, Cota de Oliveira was appointed Bishop ofSete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Beck, P. (1989). "Archeologia di un complesso castrale: Fiorentino in Capitanata," , in: ''Archeologia medievale'' 16 (1989), pp. 137-154; Id., * Beck, P. (1995). "La domus imperiale di Fiorentino in Capitanata," , in: M.S.Calò Mariani e R.Cassano (edd.), ''Federico II.Immagine e potere: Catalogo della Mostra (Bari,Castello Svevo, 4 febbraio-14 maggio 1995)'' (Venezia, 1995), pp 183-185. * *Cardillo, Luigi (1885)
''Dizionario corografico-storico-statistico della Capitanata e de' luoghi più notevoli dell'antica Daunia.''
. Altamura: F. Leggieri 1885, pp. 46-48. * (in Latin) * * *Kehr, Paulus Fridolin (1962). ''Italia pontificia. Regesta pontificum Romanorum.'
Vol. IX: Samnia – Apulia – Lucania
. Berlin: Weidmann. . p. 162. * Mariani, Maria Stella Calò (2007). "I "villages désertés" della Capitanata. Fiorentino e Montecorvino," in ''Atti del 27º convegno sulla preistoria-protostoria-storia della Daunia'', San Severo 2007, pp. 43–55. * Mariani, Maria Stella Calò (2012).
La cattedrale di Fiorentino e il territorio.
Osservazioni sull’architettura e sulla suppellettile sacra," , in: ''Fiorentino ville désertée, nel contesto della Capitanata medievale (ricerche 1982-1993)'' Rome: École française de Rome 2012. * Mariani, Maria Stella Calò (2012b).
La domus di Fiorentino e l’architettura residenziale di età svevo-angioina.
Il rapporto con la natura," , in: ''Fiorentino ville désertée, nel contesto della Capitanata medievale (ricerche 1982-1993)'', Roma: École française de Rome 2012. * Martin, J.-M.; Noyé, G. (1991). ''La Capitanata nella storia del Mezzogiorno medievale''. . Bari 1991. *Schiraldi, Gaetano (2012)
"Rinascimento cristiano in prospettiva umanistica. La diocesi di Lucera nel Quattrocento"
, , in: ''La Capitanata'' XLX (2012), pp. 171–185. *

External links

* Gabriel Chow

* Martin, Jean-Marie (2005)
"CASTELFIORENTINO."
. ''Federiciana'' (2005). {{coord missing, Italy Catholic titular sees in Europe Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses